This is hard, this business of writing the thousand word that those pictures are supposedly worth. No wonder I initially just posted them sans mots! So I’ve decided to take a little rest, as you perhaps can tell.
In the meantime, something else has come up. I’ve stumbled on an online language site that has consumed me. If those picture-words are hard, this business of speaking French into the microphone is… really hard.
Practicing French out loud has not only helped my French, but it’s given my neck and throat muscles a sorely needed workout — such a workout that it feels like therapy for the scalpel and radiation abuse. And here’s the best part: the other night after many lessons (which drive Trudy nuts), for the first time in many months I was actually able to roll my r’s again. It only lasted briefly — the r’s stopped rolling some time that night — but it was still a minor victory.
The doctors need to know this. They need to prescribe this. They need to tell us along with the stretching exercises they recommend. Practice French every night. Speak aloud. Repeat yourself over and over until your mouth wears out. Because it will help. Because your r’s will roll again!